Designing functional materials with optimised properties is one of the big challenges of our times. Some of such functional materials are based on “rare earths”, or “lanthanides”, which are a series of chemical elements that are central to many modern technologies. In particular, Cerium oxide, also known as ceria, is the oxide of the rare earth metal cerium whose distinctive property is that it acts as an oxygen buffer.
This proposal is aimed in fully exploiting the benefits of the extraordinary properties exhibited by ceria-based nanomaterials due to the fact that ceria acts as an oxygen buffer, releasing and storing oxygen ions depending on the oxygen partial pressure of the environment, while retaining the same crystal structure. This proposal will look into optimising this oxygen storage capacity which is particularly enhanced at the nanoscale and at the same time stabilising the nanoparticles by embedding them in aerogel matrices.
The optimisation of the synthetic approaches will be achieved through a detailed characterisation of the ceria-based materials carried out during the timeframe of this proposal. This will provide the basis for future exploitation of the extraordinary reactivity for a variety of important industrial processes that are of great interest for the environment and energy, spanning energy conversion (fuel cells and renewable production of fuels from solar energy), energy storage (lithium-air batteries) and environmental protection and remediation (treatment of toxic contaminants).
The present project is expected to have a considerable socio-economic impact not only due to the above mentioned applications but also because of recent interest of ceria-based nanomaterials for biomedical applications (anti-oxidant agent, free radical scavenging and immunoassays).